Qantas Sponsorship Team Gets the Axe

After deciding not to renew its 21 year relationship with the Australian Open earlier this year, Qantas has let go of its seven member internal sponsorship team in favor of "outsourcing" the job to an agency, The Age reports.

M&C Saatchi will manage the airline's existing sponsorship portfolio the report says.

From The Age:

''Every sponsorship deal will be affected by this decision,'' said a Qantas executive.

''It will affect sport, community and the arts. There will be people, moving between departments, there will be people moving on.''

It is believed Qantas will honour all of its existing contracts under the company's "Spirit of Sport" platform, but an internal review of every Qantas sponsorship deal will take place.

While Qantas has dropped some deals recently, including the Australian Open, it still is one of the leading sponsors in Australia under the Spirit of Sport platform, which includes ties to the Australian Football League and the Australian formula one grand prix.

Qantas also has many existing sponsorship deals in the arts including The Australian Ballet, Art Gallery of NSW, Opera Australia, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney Dance Company and others.

Read more about this story from The Age.